The present invention relates generally to polygonal containers and more particularly to polygonal containers having interlocking container sides and bottom assemblies which further include a bottom reinforcement means, whereby the resulting polygonal container is one of exceptional strength and stability.
In the prior art, various polygonal container structures have been proposed for containing various types of goods. A variety of different materials, including paper board, fiber board, and various corrugated materials have been proposed. Although many of such prior art polygonal containers have been generally acceptable for general and/or limited use, typically such prior art polygonal containers have been less than optimal in performance and especially in their weight-supporting capacity. Also, the prior art containers frequently have utilized bottom structures which, rather than representing a point of strength to the container, have resulted in a feature of greatest relative weakness. Moreover, many such prior art containers have resulted in the contained material being supported directly by the ground, thereby frequently resulting in damage to the contents thereof.
In view of the above and other difficulties associated with the prior art, it is an object of the polygonal container of the present invention to provide a container which has increased weight-supporting capacity.
It is also an object of the polygonal container of the present invention to provide a container having a bottom assembly of greatly increased strength.
It is an additional object of the polygonal container of the present invention to provide a container having an interlocking container sides assembly and an interlocking container bottom assembly, which further includes bottom reinforcement means corresponding generally in shape and size to a polygonal bottom panel and disposed into intimate proximity thereto to reinforce and strengthen the bottom panel.
It is a further object of the polygonal container of the present invention to provide bottom reinforcement means which may be foldably formed from a unitary blank of material.
It is yet a further object of the polygonal container of the present invention to provide a polygonal container including stacking means and stacking cavity means to fit the containers substantially snugly together for stability of stacking.
It is a yet further additional object of the polygonal container of the present invention to provide a container top including a handle grip, reinforcement associated therewith for strength thereof during grasping and handling of the polygonal container.
It is also a further object of the polygonal container of the present invention to provide a hingedly connected container lid which may be interlockingly and removably disposed with respect to the container sides assembly.
These and other objects and advantages of the polygonal container of the present invention will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the following specification.